Notre Dame fans are special
As Ryan Day’s new mortal enemy Lou Holtz once stated, “To those who know Notre Dame, no explanation is necessary. To those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.”
This couldn’t be more true. The reality is every emotion that ripples through Notre Dame football seems to carry extra weight. As paul finebaum might say, “It just means more.”
Nothing is simple.
Clean cut.
Black and white.
For many Irish fans, present company included, Notre Dame football feels more like a weekly existential soul examination exercise than it does a simple game. Being Notre Dame fans isn’t what we are, it’s who we are. It’s always personal.
As someone who hosts a Notre Dame call-in radio show on YouTube right after every game ends, I must say I was genuinely moved by the calls I received for over three-and-a-half long miserable for all involved hours. This show was by far the least enjoyable one I’ve ever hosted, but may just be the most important.
Allow me to explain.
No Cool Off Time
My postgame show starts 1 minute after each game concludes. Given the way this game ended, neither I nor the callers had any time to let the initial rush of emotions subside. The results were catastrophic. People were furious. Confused. Shocked. Completely devastated. Some callers were short with me; I was short with them. People just wanted to be heard. It was painful but cathartic group therapy.
Everyone was genuinely, thoroughly miserable. But we were together. In this moment, one I consider the most soul-crushing since I drove home from Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 15, 2005, we all just needed to be together. Irish fans just needed a place where they don’t have to explain that sick feeling in their stomach to anyone. Everyone there felt it. You could hear the genuine pain in people’s voices. Exhausted, drained, hoarse and sometimes inebriated voices. This is love. This is Notre Dame. Even in misery.
The Plus Side
Thankfully, there were many chatters and callers in the postgame show that made efforts to point out the positives in the Irish’s performance. Gone are the days when Notre Dame can’t physically hang with a team the caliber of Ohio State. There are also many exciting young players with more heading to South Bend soon.
While I totally understand that many Irish fans weren’t in any mood to hear about anything football-related being positive Saturday night, everyone handles disappointment differently. Some chose to look at the future bright side of where the program was headed. This was a needed perspective on a dark and sleepless night for many people.
Check On The Host
Much to my surprise, some callers called just to ask how I was doing. They knew how I was feeling and could see it in my face. They genuinely cared. Notre Dame just means so much to so many people. And it isn’t about just the football, it’s everything else that makes the football so special. When we win, we win together. And when we grieve, we grieve together.
Notre Dame fans are fully embracing the Freeman era. While it’s been a bumpy ride at times, the Irish are taking steps forward overall in a big way and that is becoming apparent. Notre Dame fans hope that all of the pain they felt late Saturday night along with the scar tissue of the last 30 years will eventually pay off and come full circle someday. But for now, as the local youths would say, the Irish fandom is “down bad.”
For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.
